Of Barbarians and Men
by blahblahbayern
Summary: Woe betide the firebender who comes to the South Pole uninvited, shameless, not to mention without a hat. Too bad Water Tribe siblings have their own agenda. Shape-shifter!AU translated from Russian.
1. Prologue

This story was written by **terrnovniik** , beta-ed by **RiverChost** and **Tris** and published at Ficbook. Translated from Russian with permission of the author.

Before we move on to the story,  
1) This is a shape-shifter!AU, inspired by **Biorn-21** 's arts, go check her as _biorn21_ at tumblr or _biorn-21_ at deviantart  
2) Sokka, Katara and Zuko are older than in canon

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 **Prologue**

By the evening, clouds embraced the sky as the steady, damp wind blew from the coast. The wind carried smells dulled by the frost — salt, seaweed, wet seal fur and rotten driftwood. A human's nose would scarcely perceive these, yet they weaved a familiar pattern for a wolf.

He was running, bold and smooth, the snow's crust cracking under his weight and occasional snowflakes sticking to his fur. The blizzard was heading his way and he could feel it as clearly as he could hear seagulls crying in the bazaar or the surf whispering in the bay. It would not be long before the snowstorm swallowed the land and the sky, silencing the birds and hiding the light of the Little Brother.

He hoped he could hunt before it actually reached their land.

As the wind caressed him, the familiar scents of the pre-winter tundra brought along other, strange ones; foreign and sharp.

The hairs on his back rose as he dipped to the frozen ground. Words — from an ancient life, human life — swirled in his head, giving names to the foreign scents: "iron", "coal", "oil". "Ship".

The beast wished he could run away immediately, not coming back until the dangerous scents went away with whatever brought them here, yet the human stayed. He figured out it'd take the ship less than a day to arrive. Leaving just enough time for a hunt.

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Thanks to **Advocaat** who proofread this one!

I'm looking for a beta, so PM me if you're interested.


	2. 1

Sokka knew the he could find his sister by the ice boulder; he was not mistaken. She stood there with her arms folded across her chest and frowned at the sight of opaque gray share: gloomy morning made it look more dirty and unwelcoming than usual. His sister put her hand in a fur mitten on the ice and and froze — a blue spot on a white and grey environment. "Weird", though Sokka. The ice boulder was at least five Kataras in high and five Kataras in width, yet it was his sister who seemed tangible and real.

"Hey, Katara", he stood a few steps from her, "can't leave the icicle alone, huh? Have you tried to leak it already?"

Katara turned to him slowly. " _Good morning_ , Sokka. What a great idea! I'll call for you in case I need someone with a big mouth!"

"Alright, any news?" Sokka asked peacefully.

Katara shook her head. They bumped into the ice boulder five days ago, when it just popped up in the bay and clung to the shore to the East of the village. Sokka wasn't happy about the discovery at all; in the Gran-Gran's tales they'd heard growing up, something swam out of the sea now and then, and The-Ones-From-the-Sea hardly ever had benign intentions. The giant piece of ice seemed dangerous, far more dangerous than the icebergs Sokka came across leading his kayak and far more dangerous than chunks of ice falling off the glaciers in spring. Yeah, he was scared, and his fear was unconditional, except for semi-conscious, almost child-like awe of the unknown. It made him feel sick.

Later, after they had moved the ice boulder to the bay by their hunting shelter, Katara discovered that the sphere was full of chi streams.

"Just like spirals!" exclaimed Katara over and over again.

Sokka could feel that too — more piercing as a wolf, more conscious as a human — but it wasn't before Katara said it out loud that he trusted his senses.

Giant icicle full of chi gave Sokka a bad feeling.

...Katara was absentmindedly brushing the fresh snow out of one of the ice boulder's cracks.

She leaned backward and made a few smooth movements with her hands. The ice didn't move an inch.

"Nothing changes", said she with her voice tired. "I lack skill, Sokka. If only I wasn't learning all by myself, if only I had a master…" She bit her lip, as she thrown her hands forward, and when nothing happened, again, stubbornly folded her arms across her chest.

Water is an element of chance, or at least that's what Gran-Gran used to say. Yet, any glance at Katara made him think that there were nothing more stable than water. No matter what happened, his sister stood her ground, just like that, it didn't matter if she leaned on ice, stone or water either. Sokka might be older, but it was her to be the heart of their family — a little, stubborn oasis of calm he tended to come back to after the storms of crazy or genius ideas. Sokka often tried to remember if their mother was like that, but memories faded away as time passed with only grief left.

"How about not crushing this thing?" he asked carefully. "What if you break everything?"

"I have a feeling that there must be something of a great importance inside… But to access it, I need to get rid of the ice first." Katara knocked on the icicle surface lightly.

They inhaled nearly in unison.

As he lowered his eyes to the ground, Sokka noticed a narrow hole with melted edges in the snow.

"You spent here the whole night, didn't you?" he asked in surprise. "Spirits, the lamp must have been half-drown. You're nuts, Sis."

"The lamp must be half drown" she repeated with her eyes snapped open. "Sokka, I guess, I know what could help us. Firebending!"

"Seriously now" he chuckled. His life experience and good — for a Water Tribe warrior — education told him that firebending could only help in special situations. Becoming an orphan kind of situation, that is.

"Well, waterbending is obviously not enough, not mine... But what if we cold use both bendings, melting ice and then breaking it in its faintest points…" She paused. "Like I have a firebender eager to help and not trying to burn me to a crisp."

"Um, about that... It seems there's a Fire Nation ship heading towards us. It should reach the village by the evening. Do you think you can come up with a good reason for them to help you?"

"Ugh, Sokka!.. It's a Fire Nation ship you are keeping all to yourself!"

"Um, I'm telling you now, alright."

"Are you even sure? Have you seen it already?"

"Smellt." Sokka put a finger to his nose.

"Couldn't that be Earth Kingdom merchants?"

"No way. They smell of dust and fruits, I would never confuse them."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Well, depends on how many of them would be there... We'd try to deal with them peacefully..." His eyes narrowed. "Anyway, the moon is full, you know."

"Yeah," she nodded, "I know".

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*still looking for a beta*


	3. 2

On the horizon — just between the messy clouds and silver ripple of the sea — white shores slowly came into view. They seemed deserted, but the Prince already knew that through the spyglass he could spot small igloos and broad tents made of sealskins, boats stacked upside down and a wall of pressed snow. Oh, right, and the ridiculous construction that apparently serves them as a watchtower. What a poor dirty settlement! It suits Water Tribe barbarians just right.

With a familiar longing, Zuko recalled delicate architecture of the capital, fountains, paved plazas and sharp-curving roofs — all immersed in the green. The sun caressed your skin, the wind played with silk robes of the girls who went for a walk…

…the wind threw the spray of cold water in his face; with a shudder, Zuko wiped it off. Instead of the friendly blue waves, there was a rush of gray and greenish water below; the ice it carried crashed the ship with a nasty crack. The weather was getting worse — ice powder falling from the low clouds was still thin, but was to turn into a snowstorm soon. What kind of crazy were people to settle in this strange place — every stone and every ice floe screaming that humans are not welcome here?

"Prince Zuko" uncle approached him — as always — quietly. "The evening hours are coming close. Wouldn't it be wiser to wait until the night is over and show up in the village the next morning?"

"I don't wish to waste time" Zuko cut off. "We are running out of supplies, and you know as much. The sooner we get them the better".

With a sigh, Iroh shut his eyes. The vessel was indeed running out of food — even worse — they were running out of fresh water, too.

They managed to catch small pieces of ice and melt them, but the sea ice was naturally salty. It was still possible to cook some soup with it. Quenching the thirst was a different matter entirely…

"Prince Zuko, please remember that it is a dangerous place. May the harmless appearance of the locals not trick you. They have been taking over the nature itself for years. I doubt that a bunch of firebenders is the power they'd reckon with…"

"You can't be serious, Uncle," Zuko retorted. "What's the danger you're speaking about? We've been raiding them for years, destroying their homes and taking away their benders, and they barely offered us resistance. Am I supposed to be scared of elders and kids? I was told that all their men had left the South Pole for the Earth Kingdom."

"Of that we cannot be sure. Besides, the moon is full tomorrow. Water Tribes are at their strongest during the full moon... Once we feared to visit them at such a time."

"That's just stupid fairytales."

"Prince Zuko, I beg you to be careful and polite — try asking instead of demanding…"

"Are you kidding me, Uncle? I'm not going to beg for bread crusts on my knees in front of the bunch of peasants."

"I doubt we can find any bread there, dried fish or seal meat are far more likely..."

"Ugh, that's gross!"

Lieutenant Jee coughed politely from behind.

"Speak" Zuko said with irritation.

"Prince Zuko, your permission to approach the shore?"

Zuko glanced at his Uncle — his hands hidden in the quilted robe sleeves, his amber eyes calm, yet sad. He felt uneasy out of a sudden, but shrugged it off.

"Granted, Lieutenant. And send someone to bring my helmet."

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There's one more part. Finally. Translating into English is way more exhausting than I anticipated. PM me if something seems weird or confusing.


	4. 3

Zuko had six firebenders under him, three of which followed him ashore to the Water Tribe village — either the main or the only one. Superseded by snow and dusk, daylight was fading away; at twilight, people looked pathetic — all huddled together. They are mere children, women and old people, as expected — Zuko observed.

Two women approached him slowly, yet without fear; the old, almost ancient woman — her brown face shrunken and wrinkled — was leaning on the arm of the girl, who bore an imperceptible resemblance to her. They stared at Zuko expectantly, taking him off guard; he hardly had any idea how to start a conversation. Perhaps the most honest approach was demanding to "bring food here at once"; that would sound somewhat rude, however, and the lessons of palace etiquette have not yet slipped his mind completely. At the same time, "Good evening, dear ladies. Don't you find the weather terrible?" would be ever worse a conversation starter given his intentions — let's call a spade a spade — to steal a few barrels of provisions from a bunch of helpless children and old people.

"May the Spirits be merciful to the travelers. What need has brought you here, people of the Fire Nation?" the old woman intoned saving him the effort.

"I need your food," Zuko blurted. "Your fresh water, as well. We are running out of supplies."

The old woman stared at him unblinkingly, her eyes discoloured of the old age to the pale blue of the summer sky. "We don't have that much food, sir. Now that our hunters are gone, we eat poorly."

"That's not my problem," he felt out of place and so was getting more and more irritated, "Even more so since your hunters are rebels, all of them. They have gone to fight against my country, have they not?"

"The Water Tribe is not subject to the Fire Nation," the girl joined the conversation. With her voice lowand calm and her eyes slightly narrowed, she spoke in a singsong fashion — much like the old woman. "For whatever reason, our hunters are gone, and I haven't noticed any extra food ever since."

"So, you admit your people joined the Earth Kingdom rebels, don't you?" he summoned fire to his right hand; the flames cast bizarre shadows on the savages' faces. Satisfied, he noted that most of them looked frightened, even though the girl and the old woman looked unimpressed.

"I admit we have nothing to give you," the girl's brow creased. "However, you and your men can stay with us and provide for yourselves. We will teach you how to hunt and fish in our land, we will show where to find fresh ice to melt. Restock your supplies, and go in peace."

"Katara," the old woman gasped. Apparently, such an offer was of surprise to her, too. The girl gently

squeezed the old woman's hand. Strangely, even though he noticed a few old men in the crowd, these two ran everything here, by the look of things. Remembering his own sister, he decided it wasn't his place to be surprised.

"I'm not going to wait," he said coldly to the two women. "Either you give me the food the easy way, or I'll take it by force."

"You are going to make us starve." The old woman seemed to slouch heavier.

He only clenched his fists tighter and, on his command, the flames flared brighter.

"Come now, Gran Gran," the girl — Katara — smiled bitterly. "Can't you tell he has no heart to hear you? We'll give you food. But we have our supplies outside the village, so you'll have to take a walk."

"Outside the village? Why is that?" Zuko asked stiffly.

"Food draws animals," the girl looked at him with a wicked smile. Involuntarily, he noted that her teeth were white and quite sharp. For a moment he had this awful feeling — almost as if wet cloth brushed his back — but it was gone soon. "Would you like to have a polar leopard on your doorstep? Neither would I. However hard we try, wild animals come to us all the same."

He pretended not to take the hint. "Lead the way."

She cast a thoughtful glance at his men. "Give them sleds." Somewhere from behind, leather-covered wicker sleds emerged at once. San, one of his soldiers, seemed to take over the leather reins.

"Right this way." She turned and with a light step headed went off somewhere past the ugly huts.

"Wait," Zuko called. "My men will shine a light for you."

"There's no need," Katara shrugged. "I remember the way." She just kept moving forward and they could only follow her into the thickening darkness.

And so they walked, without losing sight of a narrow strip of the pathway in the snow at their feet and Katara's blue parka ahead. Tiny hailstones replaced snowflakes and with a dry crackle hit against the armor plates. With measured steps, Zuko tried to suppress the frustration and concern eating him up from the inside. What was he afraid of, anyway? What could these helpless villagers do to him? There were not even benders.

"Hey," Katara turned — her face illuminated with fire. "How can you hear in your helmets, if at all?"

She got no response. Truth be told, helmets did drown the sounds, however, the worst thing about them was that they were ill-fitted for the temperatures. Like any other armor, they were made for battles in Earth Kingdom's warmth: at the South Pole, the pile of metal junk might even be a hindrance. At least it looked intimidating — Zuko was counting on it, anyway.

He'd already decided that, upon their return with food supplies, they were to cut as many snow blocks as possible and then lie at anchor, in order to leave the inhospitable place in the morning and continue their searches. Zuko did his best to banish the thought that other places could be even more hostile.

He must have been too deep in his thoughts, for he fell behind and his men almost escaped from his sight as if forgetting their main task — protecting the life of a prince, albeit a banished one. He quickened his pace to try and catch up with them, heavy silhouettes dancing in a flash of flames. Zuko slipped up from the path, immediately getting bogged down in the snow knee-deep, swore, and, after having almost straightened to his full height, got hit in the head powerfully enough to knock him down.

His ears were ringing. Not being able to tell which was was up or down, he touched his head frantically — as far as he could tell, there was a significant dent in his helmet. Squirming clumsily, he somehow managed to sit up and was about to call his companions out angrily, but in that exact moment he got knocked over again. It took him awhile to figure out that it was a wave — a wave of snow, instead of water. The next thing he knew, the wave was battering him over and over again, and then his eyes and his ears were full of sharp, dry snow and he was lost, having nothing to cling to. The wave turned him round and round, throwing him and pulling him under. He didn't know how long it went on; at some point, he found himself lying face down covered with palm-deep snow, at first; however, he felt like he was being squeezed by a snow mass the size of a house. His fingers and toes hurt badly — badly enough to bring tears to his eyes — and through sheer force of will, he summoned his fire to melt, to warm up, to thaw.

Zuko yanked his helmet off, compulsively trying to get rid of the snow that slipped under his clothes in cold drops. Not that it worked though. The wind was a deadly stranglehold of cold against his uncovered head's skin.

"Hey," Zuko shouted into the blizzard. "Where are you?"

Tiny hailstones hitting stronger against his armour were the only response he got. He released an arc of fire, hoping to illuminate the path, but it was to no avail; in horror, he saw the same picture — snow drifts with frozen ice patterns in the gentle slopes and never-ending gray space whirling with snow.

Suddenly, the Prince felt like a little boy lost in the endless palace hallways, that were cold enough to see one's breath and twisted enough so it seemed it'd take decades to find the lost one's bones there. As a kid, he was haunted by nightmares of not being able to escape them; as he grew up, Azula joined his bad dreams — her laughter unbearable and fire dancing at her command. But it had only recently started to sink in, that there were things worse than fire. And perhaps even worse than his sister.

He was to face the night blizzard alone and had not a vague idea of where to go to make it to light and heat again. The way things were going, Zuko thought terrified, he wouldn't be able to firebend soon and would freeze to death in the bloody icy desert.

Curse you, water barbarians! Curse you, Katara! How did he get caught up?

Standing still just there was intolerable, and so he walked. He did not know exactly where he was going, and only hoped that, by some miracle, he'd get to the village or at least to the shore where he could call for help. At some point, the pain in his numb limbs dulled, yet, with each step, it was more difficult to move forward. Finally, he dropped to his knees. He'd just rest for a little while. Only for a little while.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the snow currents suddenly changed twisting and whirling to stand up on four paws and stare at him with several pairs of eyes reflecting the moonlight. What moon would be in such a blizzard, though?

The last thing he had time to think about was wondering whether he was hallucinating, and if not, how long it would take for wolves to deal with his armor.

Then merciful darkness embraced him, and he was warm.

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Sorry for making you wait, I hope it was worth it. Million thanks to **MythicElf** who beta-ed this chapter *cough* and saved me from embarassment *cough*! **  
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